Karnataka: Don't give seats to 50 percent Congress legislators, says Ibrahim

Mysuru: Known for courting controversy, State Planning Board vice- chairman C.M. Ibrahim said the Congress may be able to touch at least the 80-90 mark in the 224 member state Assembly in 2018 if the party gives tickets to fresh faces.

He told Deccan Chronicle that he had told state leaders and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to give tickets to at least 50 per cent of sitting Congress legislators if it was interested in reaching anywhere near the 100 mark. Giving seats to the present lot will in no way help the Congress return to power, he felt.

Mr Ibrahim also claimed the BJP would face problems in coming to power due to dissidence. According to him, state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje wère on one side while the rest were on the other side. The Modi wave would not work in the state and even the Congress would have to make changes in the coming months if it wants to return to power, he felt.

On contesting the next elections, the Congress leader said: "I don’t have money to contest. If Mahatma Gandhi was alive, he would not be able to contest and win due to corruption in the electoral system. I won my first election by spending just Rs 12000 in the Seventies but now I have no funds."

On whether he was planning to join JD(S), Mr Ibrahim admitted that he enjoyed good chemistry with former PM H.D. Deve Gowda but had quit the party because Mr Siddaramaiah was denied the CM post.